Sbarro LLC has named its new fast-casual chain Pizza Cucinova – and already has two Columbus eateries in the works.

Pizza Cucinova (“new kitchen”) will be setting up this fall in an Easton Town Center outparcel at 4044 Morse Crossing, in addition to a new strip center that will be built near Grandview Heights.

Sbarro President David Karam told me they want an old-world feel to the restaurants.

“We want to build a brand with real staying power,” he said. “We think this is a segment with long-term appeal.”

The segment he’s referring to is fast-casual pizza, a dining niche where there isn’t a dominant player like there is in Mexican with Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) or with Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ:PNRA) in bakery-cafes. California-based Zpizza has two restaurants in Central Ohio and there are several startups of varying sizes popping up on the West Coast and in other cities. To anyone unfamiliar with the idea, fast-casual is a blend of the speed of fast-food restaurants with the quality of a sit-down.

Karam said Pizza Cucinova will have pizzas, entree salads and signature desserts, as well as alcohol. Just as in other fast-casual models, customers will enter the restaurant, queue up to order, move along the counter as the pizza or salad is built, pay at the register and then sit down.

Karam, a former Wendy’s Co. (NYSE:WEN) executive based in Central Ohio, talked with me earlier this month about the Melville, N.Y.-based chain’s move into the fast-casual market and why it picked Columbus as a place to launch that plan.